In a letter to customers, Ken Hicks, Academy Sports’ chairman, president, and CEO, shown above, announced a number of precautions the chain is taking in response to coronavirus

The letter was released on Academy’s website on March 12.

Hick said in part, ‘We are following the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines, as well as guidance from federal, state and local officials, to make informed decisions. We appreciate everyone’s commitment to the recommended prevention methods. We are fortunate that we currently have no reported team member or customer cases and our stores and facilities remain open for business. At this time, we feel confident we can continue to operate our stores, distribution centers and corporate office. We will leverage academy.com to provide updates if that changes.”

Steps the retailer is taking in response include:

  • Encouraging employees to stay home if they are sick. Paid time off policies have been extended to ensure “our team members have every opportunity to seek medical attention if needed.”
  • Professional, third party cleaning services routinely clean stores, distribution centers and corporate office. These scheduled cleanings will be using a CDC-approved disinfectant to clean high traffic areas and restrooms.
  • The appropriate leadership team will be constantly monitoring and meeting regularly to review the situation.
  • Travel to high-risk areas by associates and vendors has been suspended.

“This situation is a serious matter that requires everyone to stay calm and use sound judgment as we work our way through it together. Individual caution and good hygiene habits are the most important actions anyone can take to reduce the risk to COVID-19,” Hicks wrote.

He concluded, “Academy has a long history of supporting our communities, our customers, and our team members in times of natural disaster, and this time will be no different. I thank you for being a loyal Academy customer and appreciate your understanding as we all work through this difficult time. We are proud to serve you and hope that we will be seeing you soon.”

Photo courtesy Academy Sports